Blindspot 106 Iran defeats Israel’s IronDome, Niger kicks US 4ces out, DRC & Africa’s WWI

Blindspot 106 - Iran defeats Israel’s Iron Dome, Niger kicks US forces out, DRC & Africa’s WWI

Buiteboer // From Bunker 42
www.buiteboer.co.za
16/4/24

Iran defeats Israel’s Iron Dome - Ahmadinejad’s dream coming true (20 years later?)
Niger - like the French, Americans now frogmarched out of Africa
DRC & Africa’s First World War

The hardest part of war is not always the actual acts of fighting and bombing associated with it, but, the narrative wars, wars of interpretation and explication, wars of perspective and expert analysis twisted in favour of this or that power player active in the shooting & killing fields. This is what we are confronting today, narrative wars relating to what actually happened, and the implications of Iran’s strike on Israel.

Iran defeats Israel’s Iron Dome
Unlike the narrative from the USA, Europe, and Israel that the Iranian counter-attack on Israel was a failure, it seems Scott Ritter, has a totally different view. In fact, he describes it as one of the biggest acts of military demonstration in recent decades. As we have also covered in Blindspot before, Iran’s inclusion in the SCO, and most recently BRICS, signalled a breakthrough for the country and established it as recognised regional power. And now, if we listen to Scott Ritter, it clearly has the technological, and military potential to counter Israeli air defences, and other threats it might want to pose to the Islamic Republic.

The Ukraine response - envy
While this all went down, the extent to which US, French and UK forces lent a helping hand to Israel in the face of the Iranian attack, left President Zelensky, well, jealous. Basically meaning, why don’t western partners directly deploy their aircraft, and personnel in the defence of Ukraine, like they did for Israel.

Like the French, US forces frogmarched out of Niger
If anyone still thinks major power rivalry is confined to the ‘big ticket’ conflicts of our era such as Ukraine, Taiwan, or Israel/Gaza, well, then think again. As covered in Blindspot 82, before, the west African countries of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso all, in the course of the past two years, have systematically kicked the French forces, and their diplomats out of their countries. Now, the US forces stationed in Niger are facing the same fate as their French counterparts, with Russian forces, trainers and air defence systems are being deployed to Niger. Still think major power rivalry is not unfolding in the blindspots of contested African countries? Well, think again!

Links
P de Kock. 2023. Uganda pays DRC for war damages - remembering Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and Africa’s First World War. Leadership Magazine. https://riskrecon.co.za/?p=960